S. Shankar
Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963), credited as S. Shankar or his mononym Shankar, is an Indian filmmaker who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is one of the most prolific and highest paid film directors in India. His films typically deal with the contemporary social issues, vigilante themes and the usage of state of the art technology and VFX. He has won one National Film Award, four Filmfare Award South and six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards in his career.
S. Shankar | |
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Shankar in 2018 | |
| Born | Shankar Shanmugam 17 August 1963 Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Alma mater | Central Polytechnic College |
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| Years active | 1993–present |
| Notable work | Kadhalan 1994 |
| Spouse | Easwari Shankar |
| Children | 3; including Aditi |
He made his debut as a director in the film Gentleman (1993), for which he won the Filmfare Best Director Award and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director. He usually collaborates with composer A. R. Rahman, both having done over 11 films together. Two of his films Indian (1996) and Mudhalvan (1999), which deal with social and political issues, was commercially very successful and also submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but neither earned a nomination. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by M. G. R. University.
His psychological thriller Anniyan, featuring Vikram in three distinct characters (Ambi, Remo & Anniyan) was released in 2005 with highly critical and commercial success. After Anniyan, Shankar teamed up with Rajinikanth on Sivaji (2007), the most expensive Indian film at that time. He was paid with a record salary of ₹100 million for the film. It went on to become one of the highest grossing Tamil films at that time and the highest grosser of the year. He again collaborated with Rajinikanth for a science-fiction film Enthiran (2010), which again turned out to be highest grossing Tamil film at that time and also its sequel 2.0 (2018), is the seventh highest-grossing film in India and the tenth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide. It is also the highest-grossing Indian film of 2018.